The Manager by AK Wilson: 

The Manager looks and feels like the kind of novel you'd read to pass the time in the recycled air of departure lounges; or in latent heat by the pool.  It's a sleek, sexy book and like a swimming pool, deeper than it looks.   

Katy is left jobless after her sexist pig of a boss gets a new post.  She finds employment at Byrsa, which offers cloud computing to the world's most powerful companies and as a result:  wields a tangible, existential power. And as PA to Byrsa's CEO Riley, she's drawn into a dangerous game.  

That's the basic line of the narrative and you would be forgiven that it's glossy, superficial nonsense.  But it's not.  Firstly, Riley and Katy are incredibly well-drawn as characters.  They are both engaging and intriguing at the same time.  There's also a "will they-won't they" romance between them.  Add to that, the background colour of the natural world, with Brysa setting up a data farm in a forest.  Until then their servers are guarded by the kind of piranhas that normally swim through the pages of Ian Fleming novels.  

Hidden in the middle of that though, is three examples of Chekov's gun.  Unlike most of those, these get fired and my jaw dropped and my ears popped when they did.  And yes, if you're shrewd enough like me, you can probably suss them.  But that doesn't detract from the enjoyment of the novel.  Once they happen, the book becomes pacy with a car chase, a hostage and an embittered sociopath who uses guns as a form of interior design.   

Even then though, the focus is still on Riley and Katy.  By this point, you will have realised that both of them are neither really who they say they are.  And the novel makes the point lightly, but in depth: how does your online presence really represent who you are?  And also: how much do women change their behaviour to compete with men... and why should they do that?  Plus, as well the misogynistic idiocy that when women have to act like men to compete with them... and if they do, they are perceived as aggressive.   

So, the proverbial pleasant surprise.  Something well-crafted, nourishing and thought provoking.  I've already mentally cast Jodie Comer as Katy and Maxine Peake as Riley.  However, I reckon I've given you enough reasons to pack a copy before everyone starts talking about it.  Take up the offer and be ahead of the game for a proper page-tuner.